Hey all,
In my Drama class, l have to give a pantomime presentation. The setting is a school dance. My character is the school is star jock, person A is a nerd that tried to dance with the jock. The jock reluctantly agrees, but does not dance much, while the nerd pops out 60 is moves. Then the preppy girl walks in and also wants to dance with the jock, but the nerd pushes her away with many hilarious tactics. All through this everyone does many funny motions and l think that combined with nerves when I am presenting will send me into a laughing fit. How do you NOT laugh? l found that biting down on my jaw helps, but l still laugh. The old 'bite your inner cheek' trick does not work either, and l can not distract myself by thinking of something depressing and do a reasonable job acting at the same time. Help?

l actually used a thumbtack in the bottom of my shoe and applied pressure when l needed to keep a straight face, or have used a safety pin in a pocket! It is a learned skill, but you can do it!

Would your character laugh at him? It would seem logical that a jock would laugh at a nerd.

If not, deep, slow breaths help. Also, you could seem as if you are looking at the nerd but look slightly past her.

Actually, what l do when l want to keep a straight face is that l look at the person l am facing & do not give him eye contact. l focus on the corner of his eye or the bridge of his nose. So do something simular, do not pay direct attention to the scene, pick out a spot on the floor underneath them & focus on that, while keeping a horrified face. It is called acting, is not it?? =D

l also think over & over again ''Dying is not Funny''

l do not know why, but it works for me =]

And when you're truely in character, it is easier not to laugh.

l HAVE A VERY SIMILAR PANTOMIME l AM PRESENTING ON MONDAY, IT HELPS TO BITE YOUR LIP AND THINK AS IF YOU ARE BEING WATCHED TO GET A ROLE ON T.V.

HOPE THIS HELPS =]

Breathe in through ur nose & out through ur mouth deeply.
If that does not work, try biting on the inside of ur cheek, that almost always works for me.
Or combine the two.
Also, try not to give ur partner eye contact. Stare at the bridge of their nose, or the lower center of the forehead. It is all psychological. By doing that, u have no reason to laugh because they can not do anything funny with their forehead or nose like they can with their eyes, so ur body relaxes.

Do not make eye contact with the person being funny. Look at the top of their head or their nose or something, it usually works for me. If you find yourself still loosing control, hide a smile with a natural-looking hand motion, such as brushing aside your bangs or something. Make it in character, though.

Good luck

Lots of rehearsal to get it out of your system. Then just stay totally committed to the part, and in character.

l have the same problem. Usually l think about a sad event that l experienced in my life and NEVER look directly into their face. Just look at their forehead and try to BE the character.